The Latest Bounce

Pete McCloskey, the 78-year-old
former Republican Congressman who helped write the 1974 Endangered
Species Act, does not take kindly to having his handiwork
messed with. So he’s rented a house in the district
of Rep. Richard Pombo, R-Calif., and is planning to run — as
a Republican — against the anti-environmental crusader this
November (HCN, 10/17/05: Pombo takes on the Endangered Species
Act). McCloskey told the Contra Costa Times that
"It’s time to take Pombo out."

Osama bin Laden may
still roam free, but, by golly, the U.S. is winning the
war on eco-terrorism. In Eugene, Ore., a federal grand
jury indicted 11 alleged members of the Earth and Animal Liberation
Fronts on terrorism charges. Attorney General Alberto Gonzales said
that the indictments were for a "trail of destruction left by these
defendants across the Western United States," including arson that
destroyed a ski lodge in Vail, Colo., in 1998 (HCN, 11/9/98: Vail
fires outrage community) and another fire, which destroyed the
headquarters of an Oregon timber company in 1999 (HCN, 2/1/99: ELF
strikes again).

The federal Bureau of Land Management has
given six companies the green light to investigate whether
oil shale production is commercially feasible (HCN,
12/12/05: Congress bets on oil shale). Under the pilot program,
each company will receive 160 acres of public land and options on
an additional 4,960 acres. Oil Shale Exploration and Oil-Tech will
receive land near Vernal, Utah; Chevron, ExxonMobil, Shell and EGL
Resources will receive land in northwest Colorado’s Rio
Blanco County. The BLM hopes to complete an environmental review of
the projects by late spring.

Wanna buy some raw
Arizona desert? It’ll cost you more than a
million bucks an acre. The Arizona State Land Department,
which oversees more than 9 million acres, helps keep the
state’s school coffers full by auctioning off land for
development (HCN, 7/30/01: Not in our backyard). On Jan. 19,
luxury-apartment builder Gray Development paid $33.45 million for
32 acres of state land in north Phoenix.